Daily Sabah – September 10, 2024
Israel kills at least 40 people in Gaza humanitarian zone airstrike
Israel killed at least 40 Gazans and wounded 60 others in overnight airstrikes on a tent camp at a designated humanitarian zone in the enclave, local emergency services said Tuesday.
With dozens of people missing, rescue workers continued their searches at the tent encampment near Khan Younis in the Al-Mawasi area, which Israel has designated a humanitarian safe zone for displaced Palestinians.
Witnesses said the camp, crowded with internally displaced families, was struck by at least four missiles.
The Gaza civil emergency service said at least 20 tents caught fire and missiles caused craters as deep as 9 meters (30 feet).
It said the 65 victims included women and children but did not immediately provide a breakdown of deaths and injuries.
There was no immediate comment from the Gaza Health Ministry, which compiles casualty figures. Earlier, the Hamas-aligned Shehab News Agency said 40 Palestinians were killed.
"Our teams are still moving out martyrs and wounded from the targeted area. It looks like a new Israeli massacre," a Gaza civil emergency official said.
The official added that teams had been struggling to search for victims who might have been buried.
The Israeli military said it "struck significant Hamas ... operating within a command and control center embedded inside the Humanitarian Area in Khan Younis."
Palestinian resistance members allegedly advanced and carried out attacks against IDF troops and Israel, the Israeli Defence Forces claimed.
Hamas denied Israeli allegations that gunmen were present in the targeted area and rejected accusations it exploited civilian areas for military purposes.
"This is a clear lie that aims to justify these ugly crimes. The resistance has denied several times that any of its members exist within civilian gatherings or use these places for military purposes," said Hamas in a statement.
Ambulances raced between the tent camp and a nearby hospital, while Israeli jets could still be heard overhead, residents said.
Nearly all of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been forced from their homes at least once, and some have had to flee as many as 10 times.
The war was triggered by the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion, causing around 1,200 deaths and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, in comparison, has killed more than 40,900 Palestinians, according to the local Health Ministry.
The two warring sides each blame the other for a failure so far to reach a ceasefire that would end the fighting and see the release of hostages.
https://www.dailysabah.com/world/mid-east/israel-kills-at-least-40-people-in-gaza-humanitarian-zone-airstrike
Al Mayadeen – September 10, 2024
Day 340 of Israeli genocide in Gaza: 41,020 killed, 94,925 injured
Israeli occupation forces committed three massacres in Gaza, killing 32 people and wounding 100 others in the past 24 hours.
The number of Palestinians killed in Gazaﾠsince the start of the Israeli war in October has risen to 41,020 with 94,925, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said on Tuesday as the genocide marked its 340th day.
In its daily report, the Ministry mentioned that Israeli occupation forces committed three massacres in Gaza, killing 32 people and wounding 100 others in 24 hours only.
It is noteworthy that this toll does not include the full toll of the Al-Mawasi massacre.
'Israel' kills, injures tens of Palestinians in new al-Mawasi massacre
During the early hours of Tuesday, the Israeli occupation launched an extensive attack against a Palestinian displacement camp in al-Mawasi, Khan Younis. The massacre was described as "one of the worst and most brutal in the Strip".
The area was previously declared a safe zone by the IOF, and sheltered at least one million Palestinians, all of whom were cramped up in makeshift tents.
So far, an unfinalized death toll indicates that over 40 Palestinians have been killed in the aggression, while 65 others were injured. However, the numbers are expected to exponentially increase in the upcoming hours.
As a result of the intense bombardment of the camp, large and unprecedented craters and holes were left behind by the 2,000-pound bombs dropped by the IOF. Entire families have been wiped out, while others completely vanished in the sand.
The bodies of some martyrs were found in sites far from the craters amid the impact
Rescue operations are still ongoing but face a number of challenges. The roads have been completely cut off by the craters, while most ambulances, which had not been struck, are barely functioning due to the lack and absence of fuel.
Palestinian sources revealed that a belt of fire was formed around the camp after at least five Israeli missiles targeted over 20 Palestinian tents in the camp, completely pulverizing them.
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/day-340-of-israeli-genocide-in-gaza--41-020-killed--94-925-i
Al Mayadeen – September 9, 2024
2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza in 'urgent' need of food, aid: WFP
The World Food Program (WFP) has sounded the alarm that 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza are still in "urgent" need of food aid after 11 months of war.
In a post, the UN aid agency reiterated that "a ceasefire is needed!"
The Israeli massacres have not stopped since October 7, accompanied by a brutal siege forcing the residents of the Gaza Strip into famine and a humanitarian crisis marred with the lack of sanitation.
WHO convoys banned entry
The Israeli occupation also prevented the World Health Organization convoys from entering the Gaza Strip. WHO confirmed that "Israel" is not allowing the organization to bring fuel, medicines, equipment, and aid into the Gaza Strip, noting that 46 convoys in Egypt are awaiting "Israel's" approval to enter the Strip.
On his part, the Director General of the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, Munir al-Bursh, explained that the occupation has banned the entry of the United Nations and World Health Organization convoys loaded with medicines and fuel for the fifth time in a week.
He also confirmed that the occupation forces prevented the entry of a convoy of polio vaccines into northern Gaza.
Children in Gaza deserve lasting peace: WHO
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, reported Monday that the polio vaccine campaign in southern Gaza has successfully wrapped up, with over 446,000 children vaccinated since its launch on September 1.
Ghebreyesus wrote on X that five health facilities will continue to vaccinate to "make sure no child is missed."
The director-general also expressed that ongoing humanitarian pauses are essential for the successful completion of the vaccination campaign across the Gaza Strip.
Preparations are currently underway for the launch of the vaccination campaign in northern Gaza, Ghebreyesus explained.
However, he underlined that "the children in Gaza deserve lasting peace, not just polio vaccines."
Al Jazeera –September 10, 2024
Haaretz: Netanyahu is preparing for settlements and annexation of northern Gaza to Israel
Haaretz revealed on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government are preparing for the next phase of the war on Gaza, which includes preparations for settlements and annexation of the northern Gaza Strip.
This came in an analysis by the newspaper's editor-in-chief, Aluf Ben, in which he said that Israel is entering the second phase of the war on Gaza, where it will try to complete its control over the northern Gaza Strip up to the Netzarim axis (established by the Israeli army in the central Gaza Strip and separates its north from its south).
He added that the area would be gradually prepared for Jewish settlement and annexation of Israel, depending on the degree of international opposition that would arise after such steps.
If the plan is implemented, he said, the Palestinian population that remained in northern Gaza would be driven out of there, as suggested by reserve Colonel Giora Eiland, by threatening famine, while the Israeli army hunts down Hamas militants in the area.
Netanyahu dreams of expanding Israel's territory, and this would be his absolute victory.
The newspaper's editor-in-chief confirmed that the entry into the new phase of the war began with a bureaucratic announcement issued on August 28 about the appointment of Brigadier General Elad Goren as head of civilian humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip within the Israeli Government Activities Coordination Unit.
https://www.aljazeera.net/news/2024/9/10/%d9%87%d8%a2%d8%b1%d8%aa%d8%b3-%d9%86%d8%aa%d9%86%d9%8a%d8%a7%d9%87%d9%88-%d9%8a%d8%ad%d8%b6%d8%b1-%d9%84%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%b3%d8%aa%d9%8a%d8%b7%d8%a7%d9%86-%d9%88%d8%b6%d9%85-%d8%b4%d9%85%d8%a7%d9%84
Anadolu Agency – September 10, 2024
Arab ministerial meeting opens in Egypt to discuss Israeli war on Gaza
An Arab ministerial meeting convened in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on Tuesday to discuss Israel's ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Addressing the meeting, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit called for halting the Israeli onslaught on the Palestinian enclave.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "unwilling to agree to a cease-fire in Gaza,” he said.
“There is no choice but to halt the war,” he added.
The ministerial meeting, chaired by Yemen, is also attended by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, and UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag.
“The Muslim world will do whatever it takes to preserve the Islamic identity of Haram al-Sharif with the same spirit,” said Fidan during his address at the meeting.
He also warned supporters of the Israeli prime minister, saying that they are also accomplices to the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
"They will also be held accountable,” he added.
The meeting discusses ways to end the ongoing Israeli attacks in Gaza and the West Bank, and diplomatic and legal measures to stop aggressive Israeli policies aimed at displacing Palestinians from their land, according to its announced agenda.
It also addresses the situations in several Arab countries such as Libya, Yemen, Sudan, and Somalia and security of navigation and energy supplies in the Gulf region.
Israel has continued a brutal military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 Hamas attack despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
More than 41,000 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 95,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.
An ongoing blockade of the enclave has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins.
Israel faces accusations of genocide for its actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice.
https://www.yenisafak.com/en/world/arab-ministerial-meeting-opens-in-egypt-to-discuss-israeli-war-on-gaza-3690748
Al Mayadeen – September 3, 2024
Hamas is not collapsing, 'Israel' is: Israeli media
Israeli media highlight "Hamas’ restoration of its capabilities in northern Gaza," while reserve General Yitzhak Brik warns of "the army's losses if the fighting continues" and calls for a ceasefire deal to return the captives.
Israeli media cited a security source confirming that "Hamas has successfully restored its capabilities in the northern Gaza Strip."
Reports indicate that an estimated 3,000 Hamas fighters "have resumed operations in the northern Gaza Strip and are actively working to enhance the organization's operational capabilities."
These estimates suggest that the issue involves Hamas recruiting new members in recent months, rather than transferring fighters from the southern to the northern part of the Gaza Strip. That said, senior officials in the security and military establishment have stated that a large-scale incursion into the northern Gaza Strip is becoming inevitable.
'It is not Hamas that is collapsing, it is Israel'
In an article titled "It is not Hamas that is collapsing, but Israel," published in Haaretz, retired Brigadier General Yitzhak Brik offered a critical assessment of the ongoing battles in the Gaza Strip. He underscored the significant and escalating losses "Israel" is facing, arguing that the war is exerting a far heavier toll on "Israel" itself than on Hamas.
He argued that soldiers are exhausted and are losing their skills for lack of training; especially since many are leaving their courses before completing them.
"Some argue that withdrawing army forces from Gaza after signing a hostage deal with Hamas would be the same as being defeated and surrendering... This claim is grounded in a fundamental misunderstanding of what is taking place in the Gaza Strip. It is fueled by clichés spread by the political and military echelons to justify their actions and gain public support and legitimacy to continue a failed war... it is those very same people declaring that a cessation of hostilities means our defeat and surrender who are bringing the military closer to collapse and the state to its downfall," he added.
He pointed out the need to concentrate occupation forces in other sectors, namely in the north and the West Bank due to the ongoing escalations, occupation forces will have to withdraw from Gaza because there are "not enough forces to fight on several fronts at the same time."
"In other words, the day will come when the IDF will no longer be able to remain in the Gaza Strip because Hamas will be in full control of it – both in the underground tunnel city that stretches hundreds of kilometers and above ground," Brik explained.
He added, "If we stop raiding because the military is weak and because we have no other choice, or if we move our forces to other areas, our enemies will declare with fanfare that the Israeli military has thrown in the towel, left Gaza and surrendered."
That said, Brik suggested that by preempting matters and agreeing to a deal to return the captives and prisoners, the battles in Gaza must end.
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/hamas-is-not-collapsing---israel--is--israeli-media
Al Mayadeen – September 10, 2024
Yemeni army downs second US MQ-9 Reaper drone in 72 hours
The spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces confirms that this is the ninth drone of its kind to be shot down since the start of the YAF's military operations in support of Gaza.
The spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF), Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announced on Tuesday that Yemeni air defenses successfully shot down an American MQ-9 drone while it was conducting hostile activities in the airspace of Saada Governorate.
According to Saree, this is the ninth aircraft that Yemeni air defenses have shot down since the start of operations in support of Gaza, and the second in 72 hours.
The Yemeni Armed Forces also hailed the martyrdom operation carried out by Jordanian Maher Al-Jazi, who "chose to honor the blood of the martyrs in Gaza in the appropriate manner." This praise follows Al-Jazi's shooting attack that resulted in the deaths of three Israelis near the Karameh crossing (known as the Allenby Bridge by "Israel") before he was martyred.
The Yemeni Armed Forces also called on Arab and Islamic nations to fulfill their religious, moral, and humanitarian duties towards the Palestinian people, who have been subjected to genocide for almost a year "with American and British support."
US and UK aggression on Yemen continues
The US and UK's aggression on Yemen has reached a new level, as they launched two airstrikes on Umm al-Mu'minin Aisha Girls' School in the al-Jand area in Yemen's Taiz Province earlier today.
Local sources in the Taiz Province further told Al Mayadeen that the US-UK aggression killed at least two students and injured seven others.
Despite the ongoing aggression, the Yemeni people and their armed forces continue to reiterate their proactive support to the Palestinian people by putting ships and companies supplying the Israeli genocide of the Palestinians under the direct threat of attacks across different waters.
The YAF is also working on enhancing its operations targeting traffic into two major Israeli-occupied ports in Haifa and Isdud (Ashdod), cooperating with Iraqi Resistance factions, and expanding the scope of its supportive operations.
Yeni Safak – September 10, 2024
45 rockets fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel
Israeli army hits southern Lebanese town in response
The Israeli army claimed Tuesday that nearly 45 rockets were launched from Lebanon toward northern Israel.
“Drones targeted launch sites in the areas of Tayr Debba (Bint Jbeil District) and Mansouri (Tyre District) from which rockets were fired towards the Sasa (Upper Galilee) and Western Galilee regions earlier today,” it wrote on X. “Fighter jets earlier today struck a Hezbollah military facility in the Rachaf area (Bint Jbeil District) in southern Lebanon.”
It went on to say that “following the activation of sirens in the Sasa and Meron areas (Upper Galilee), we detected about 30 rockets from Lebanon towards the region, some of which were intercepted while the remainder fell in open areas, with no injuries reported.”
The army noted that around 15 rockets were fired from Lebanon toward the Western Galilee after sirens sounded, with no injuries reported.
The Lebanese Health Ministry announced earlier that one person was killed and 12 injured in airstrikes by Israeli aircraft on towns in southern and eastern Lebanon.
“An Israeli drone strike targeted the center of the town of Houla (southern Lebanon),” Lebanon's National News Agency reported.
Tensions have spiked along Lebanon's border with Israel amid cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israeli forces as Tel Aviv presses ahead with a brutal onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 41,000 victims since Oct. 7 following an attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.
https://www.yenisafak.com/en/news/45-rockets-fired-from-lebanon-toward-northern-israel-army-3690777
Al Mayadeen - September 9, 2024
Israeli aggression on Lebanon's health sector - 11 months in numbers
On Saturday, Dr. Firas al-Abiad, Lebanon's Caretaker Minister of Public Health, revealed that Israeli attacks have killed 27 paramedics and injured 94 medical personnel in Lebanon.
He also reported that since these attacks began on October 8, 2023, 21 medical facilities have been targeted, and 32 ambulances and firefighting vehicles have been destroyed.
In a statement, Dr. al-Abiad strongly condemned "Israel's" targeting of the Lebanese Civil Defense, which was engaged in a humanitarian effort to mitigate the damage caused by fires ignited by the ongoing Israeli strikes on South Lebanon's villages.
TRT World – September 11, 2024
Likud ideology is based on Israeli occupation of West Bank, Gaza
PM Netanyahu displayed a map showing Israel from the sea to the river without any Palestine. He was merely echoing his party’s official stance.
Benjamin Netanyahu is not only the longest-serving prime minister of Israel but also the longtime leader of the country’s right-wing Likud Party, which refers to the occupied West Bank as Judea and Samaria and refuses to acknowledge them as Palestinian territory.
Netanyahu, who has led Likud for almost a quarter of a century, has publicly stated his party’s ideological foundation on several occasions – laying out its long-standing opposition to an independent Palestinian state.
This stance has been reflected in different versions of the Likud platform documents, which outlines the party's policies, principles, and political goals, as seen in 1977, 1999, and 2009. Likud was formed in 1973.
Israel’s rigid stance has come to the fore since it launched its latest war on Gaza on October 7 last year and subsequently extended it to the occupied West Bank – killing, maiming and detaining Palestinian civilians with impunity.
Interestingly, the English version of the plafform document is not available on the partyﾒs official website.ﾠIncomplete and scattered English versions of the document quoting parts of the party’s constitution are scattered over the internet.
The ﾓoriginalﾔ party platform, published in 1977 under the leadership of former Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin, claimed that only the Jewish people have “the right” to “the land” of historical Palestine, which it called Eretz Israel, a Hebrew phrase meaning the Land of Israel.
This “Jewish right” is “eternal and indisputable”, the document said. As a result, “Judea and Samaria will not be handed to any foreign administration; between the Sea and Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty.”
In 1978, this Likud assertion was confirmed by then-US Secretary of State Cyrus Vance,ﾠsaying that the Likud party “calls for permanent Israeli retention of all of the West Bank and Gaza”, reducing the possibility of an independent Palestinian state to nothing.
‘Autonomous’ Palestine under Israel
The 1999 version of the charter, a document linked to former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon’s leadership, did not change much on the party’s approach toward the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
“The Government of Israel flatly rejects the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state west of the Jordan River,” said the charter.
It suggested an autonomous status for Palestinians under Israeli control, an offer different Palestinian resistance groups – from Fatah to Hamas – have long opposed.
“The Palestinians can run their lives freely in the framework of self-rule, but not as an independent and sovereign state. Thus, for example, in matters of foreign affairs, security, immigration and ecology, their activity shall be limited in accordance with imperatives of Israel's existence, security and national needs,” it added.
In 2009, another version of the charter emerged after Netanyahu – who became the Likud leader in 2005 following Sharon’s departure from the party – came to power. Like the 1999 text, the 2009 charterﾠalso opposed the two-state solution, dismissing the possibility of an independent Palestinian state.
This document also kept much of the 1999 version intact regarding illegal settlements in the West Bank.
The 2009 document also clearly states that Likud governments “will maintain Jerusalem as a unified city, the capital of Israel, under Israeli rule”, opposing its division between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, a stance which violates international law.
The Likud document also threatened that any attempt to divide Jerusalem would lead to a regional war.
Netanyahu and the Likud charter
There are a number of signs which indicate that Netanyahu is more loyal to his party’s ideology than any Israeli law and peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority, which is based in the occupied West Bank.
Netanyahu’s loyalty to the Likud charter presents numerous political problems for the country in terms of policy oversight.
In 2018, the then Likud government led by Netanyahu enacted a controversial Nation State Law, which recognises the right of self-determination only for Jews in Israel, evoking the original 1977 party charter’s assertion that the “Jewish right” is “eternal and indisputable” between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.
Israel’s borders are “not fixed and the direction of travel is Israel sovereign between the river and the sea and over the occupied Syrian Golan Heights,” Palestinian professor and political analyst Kamel Hawwash said in a previousﾠTRT Worldﾠinterview, referring to the original Likud charter.
During the ongoing Gaza war, Netanyahu made a very similar assertion to what the 1999 Likud party charter already declared regarding an independent Palestinian state, using almost the same words to say that he and his allies ﾓflat out rejectﾔﾠthe formation of “a Palestinian state”.
Another signal of the Likud agenda’s implementation emerged with the Trump-led Abraham Accords between some Arab states and Israel, which offers no real Palestinian state but only talks aboutﾠeconomic rights of the Palestinians, a topic the 2009 charter also mentioned.
In 2017, the then-Donald Trump administration also recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a development the Netanyahu government hailed as implementing one of Likud’s main agendas. Likud has long seen Jerusalem “as a unified city” which should be “the capital of Israel”.
When it comes to advocating illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank and Gaza, which the 1999 platform sees as “the realisation of Zionist values”, the Israeli prime minister also follows the Likud path, pledging toﾠﾓadvance and develop settlementﾔ across “Judea and Samaria”.
“Settlement of the land is a clear expression of the unassailable right of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel and constitutes an important asset in the defense of the vital interests of the State of Israel. The Likud will continue to strengthen and develop these communities and will prevent their uprooting,” said the 1999 document.
This Likud settlement position was implemented during the party’s different tenures. The current Netanyahu government, the most hardline administration ever, also sees it as a priority.ﾠMost recently, the Netanyahu government recognised three illegal outposts in the West Bank.
The 1999 platform also pledged that water resources, as well as road intersections in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, shall ﾓremain under full Israeli controlﾔ, referring to vital resources of Israeli-occupied territories.
Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 after occupying the enclave for years.
Successive Netanyahu governments have consistently blocked Gaza and West Bank residents from having direct access to water sources,ﾠpreventing water transfers from the West Bank to Gaza.
During the ongoing war, Israel is also using water as a weapon against Gaza residents.
Gaza withdrawal: a hot debate
Another interesting connection between Netanyahu’s actions and the Likud platform is related to the 2005 Gaza withdrawal by the Israeli army, a contentious issue within the party. Most Likud party members strongly opposed the withdrawal from Gaza.
In 2005, when Sharon decided to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza and dismantle illegal Jewish settlements in the Palestinian enclave, he faced stiff resistance from Netanyahu and his cohorts in the party.
Under increasing pressure from his opponents in Likud, Sharon resigned from party leadership and formed a new party, Kadima. Netanyahu, Sharon’s longtime rival in the Likud, quickly replaced him, becoming the party’s undisputed leader. Interestingly, a few months after the Gaza withdrawal, Sharon was incapacitated and forced to leave the government.
Sharon’s partially forced departure from Likud signalled that if a leader - even of Sharon’s stature - goes against the core principles of the party charter, he/she would lose the privilege of leading the party.
Since Netanyahu became the party leader in 2005 and prime minister in 2009, he has taken a hardline stance aligned with the Likud platform against Hamas governance in Gaza.
The 2009 party platform, codified under Netanyahu’s leadership, criticised Sharon’s Gaza policy, saying that “the warnings of Likud and its leader against unilateral withdrawals were not in vain”, referring to Hamas’s attacks on Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah’s armament of sophisticated long-range weapons.
Netanyahu has launched numerous large-scale attacksﾠon Gaza in 2012, 2014 and 2021. Most lately, Netanyahu has conducted and overseen the most devastating Israeli invasion ever on Gaza following Hamas’s October 7 attack.
Netanyahu’s military offensive in Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, mostly children and women, up to date as the Likud leader has envisioned a long-term occupation of the Palestinian enclave.
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